Save the Post Office

Street artist Lopi LaRoe, who goes by the name LMNOPI (prounouced “el-em-en-oh-pee”), describes herself as a “community organizer, humanitarian worker and civilly disobedient activist.” Over the past three decades she has used her skills as an artist to amplify the messages of numerous social justice and environmental causes including the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline, and relief for victims of both Hurricane Sandy and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. LaRoe made this poster as a tribute to the essential workers who are risking their own health to help others during the COVID-19 crisis. The map in the background shows a portion of Vermont’s Green Mountain National Forest, where she lives and works.

The image only gained more meaning and importance with the subsequent appointment of Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General, whose policies have been seen by many as an attempt to hinder voting by mail. LaRoe—whose own great grandfather was a Postmaster in Essex, New York during the 1890s—had her design printed as a postcard that voters can send to their elected officials, urging them to save the post office ahead of the presidential election.